The Duke Blue Devils will take on arch-rival North Carolina Tar Heels in a massive ACC clash, with Duke’s freshman phenom Cooper Flagg under the spotlight. As the final conference clash before March Madness, the temperature on Tobacco Road is rising. Duke may have had the upper hand this season, but does UNC have a defensive plan to nullify the Blue Devils’ biggest threat?

Duke has been playing fantastically this season. The Blue Devils lead the nation in scoring margin (+22.0) in addition to a handful of other top-10 statistical categories: shooting efficiency (1.209, 3rd), opponent shooting efficiency (0.956, 1st), opponent shooting percentage (38.2%, 4th), and shooting percentage (48.9%, 10th). Their 87-70 win over UNC in February highlighted this offensive firepower, as Flagg recorded 21 points, 8 rebounds, and 7 assists in his introduction to the rivalry.

Duke’s 100-65 thrashing of Florida State last Saturday displayed its depth and offensive potency in extending its winning streak to six. Somewhere, there’s a but. And it could be on the UNC sideline, in the form of a coaching staff led by Hubert Davis that may have the recipe for neutralizing Duke’s most potent weapon, Cooper Flagg.

Brian Geisinger on 99.9 The Fan ESPN to discuss what UNC could try to do in this game defensively. “I think they can. I mean, we’ve seen how UNC wants to defend. They want to keep teams out of the middle or play drop coverage. Maybe they’ll mix it up; they’ll switch at times and they’ll trap at times too. But for the most part, you know what they want to do. If they’re able to space the court offensively with Withers and Powell on that side, then they have more size for the Cooper Flagg matchup, and you don’t have to have Seth Trimble guard him.”

This could make it difficult for Flagg, who has been nothing short of incredible this season. The freshman sensation is averaging 19.3 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 4.1 assists per game. Trimble might not be the player to guard Flagg for most of the game, but he has a chance to be one of UNC’s crucial players in that matchup.

The junior guard took a major step forward this season, averaging 11.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game this season. That’s up from the 5.2 points he averaged last season. The defensive impact that Trimble has had this season, especially with his 1.4 steals per game, might be key to slowing down Duke on offense.

Hubert Davis’s take on dominant Cooper Flagg

Duke and UNC rivalry is one of the richest in college basketball lore. The schools have combined for 11 National Championships and have each produced a host of Hall of Fame players. As a UNC alumnus turned head coach, Davis knows this all too well. The pressure on Davis has been even greater in recent weeks as Duke has continued to string together victories and maintain their dominance under Flagg, while UNC has struggled for form this season.

UNC has had no answer for Flagg thus far, as their attempt to contain him by double-teaming him has not worked in their last matchup. It was an effective representative of the gulf that has formed between the two teams this season: Duke’s offense, spearheaded by the potent Flagg, is exploiting UNC’s weak resistance.

Hubert Davis has said in the past that “Cooper Flagg is a great basketball player.” North Carolina basketball head coach Hubert Davis has been watching Flagg play as a freshman and knows just how good he is. “What makes him impactful is that he does make plays consistently on both ends of the floor. That’s what makes him impactful,” Davis said recently.

As the two teams prepare to square off yet again, can UNC’s defense slow down Cooper Flagg and the high flying Blue Devil offense? With commentators from ESPN giving their takes, and both staffs making adjustments, this game is already set to be another classic encounter between Duke and UNC All eyes will be on Smith Center for a clash of these two ACC blue bloods, featuring Cooper Flagg.